The BEST episodes of The Singing Detective

Every episode of The Singing Detective ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Singing Detective!

Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.

Last Updated: 2/27/2024Network: BBC OneStatus: Ended
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Heat
star
8.05
37 votes

#1 - Heat

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/23/1986

Dennis Potter's drama about a patient struggling to keep his sanity, with the help of his alter ego, the singing private eye. Marlow faces a talking cure with a psychologist.

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Lovely Days
star
8.00
36 votes

#2 - Lovely Days

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/30/1986

While in hospital with psoriasis, Marlow thinks back to the war when he was a little boy, and remembers seeing his mother having illicit sex in the Forest of Dean. His memories, his 30s style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.

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Pitter Patter
star
7.97
35 votes

#3 - Pitter Patter

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/14/1986

Marlow is getting better and the different strands of his fiction and reality begin to occupy the same time and place.

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Who Done It
star
7.97
34 votes

#4 - Who Done It

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/21/1986

The young Philip Marlow returns to the country railway station following his mother's death in London. Forty years on, Marlow the hospital patient still dreams about the homecoming and the frightening figure of the scarecrow that now erupts into the ward.

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Clues
star
7.94
34 votes

#5 - Clues

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/7/1986

Marlow as a child visits London, but is not impressed. A film option on Marlow's novel thickens the plot. His memories, his 30s style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.

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Skin
star
7.61
44 votes

#6 - Skin

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/16/1986

Pulp thriller writer Philip Marlow is in hospital with the skin complaint psoriasis, tormented by his past and threatened by his future. His memories, his 1930s-style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.

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